Frank E. Woodworth

Off the beaten path, the Woodworth Preserve features lush evergreen forests and picturesque coastal scenery in the heart of Pleasant Bay.

The Woodworth Preserve is great for:

Hiking – Explore the gentle terrain along the 1.8-mile loop trail to appreciate the quiet beauty of this remote coastal preserve. Scroll down for more information.

Bird Watching – Pack your binoculars and scan the surrounding waters of Pleasant Bay, a popular feeding area for migratory shorebirds and waterfowl.

How to get there

The Preserve is situated 8 miles down Marshville Road from Route One in Harrington. At the Harrington Town Landing the road turns to gravel. There is no boat launch site at the preserve, nor is the road plowed in the winter. Parking is on the left at the trailhead and is limited to four vehicles. If the lot is full, please return another time. The road beyond this parking lot is a dead end and services only the Ripley summer community. Please respect their privacy.

Get directions from Google Maps
Printable preserve map (441KB PDF)

Hit the trail

A 1.8-mile loop trail leads through moss-carpeted woodlands, with red spruce, white birch, balsam fir and northern white cedar—many of the trees more than a century old. The trail emerges at the shoreline overlooking the upper reaches of Pleasant Bay. Several tidal rivers converge off Ripley Neck, supporting a wide array of shorebirds and waterfowl.

Notes on topography, flora, and fauna

The Frank E. Woodworth Preserve lies at the end of a long peninsula jutting into Pleasant Bay, a scenic and ecologically-rich region in Washington County. The preserve includes 127 acres on Willard Point, at the end of Ripley Neck, 3-acre Hog Island, and two smaller islands (Peter and George Islands).

How this preserve became open to the public

The preserve is named for a local fisherman who was a longtime friend to the George Milmine/Joseph Parsons family that owned land on Willard Point for nearly a century. The Milmines donated “forever wild” conservation easements on much of their land in the 1980s. In 2007, MCHT acquired the land with support from the Land for Maine’s Future Program.